The Countess of Chester is the main NHS hospital for the Chester area with 625 beds. It was officially opened as such on 30th May, 1984, but the accident and emergency wards were open from 1983, and a hospital has existed on site since 1829. Initially it was a mental health unit, called the 'Lunatic Asylum Building'. The building's name continually changed during the 19th and early 20th centuries from Cheshire Lunatic Asylum, to Chester County Lunatic Asylum, County Mental Hospital, Upton Mental Hospital, Deva Hospital and finally West Cheshire Hospital.
